Microfluidic devices and systems have advanced rapidly from academic postulations to functioning commercial research products that are actively contributing to the research and development of pharmaceutical and other biotechnological and chemical products.
Examples of microfluidic devices and systems for performing a variety of different operations are described in, e.g., WO 98/00231, WO 98/05424, WO 98/22811, WO 98/46438 and WO 98/49548, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Such microfluidic systems are generally configurable to perform virtually any operation, assay or experiment previously performed at the laboratory bench, but with a greater degree of accuracy, speed and automatability. Specifically, because microfluidic systems are performed in such small spaces, reagent quantities, an mixing times are substantially reduced. Further, because of the integrated nature of microfluidic systems, e.g., channel networks fabricated in a single chip, multiple different operations can be incorporated into a single device and controlled by an automated control and detection system. The availability of automated instrumentation, in turn, provides for unparalleled reproducibility as compared to bench scale operations, which rely upon measurements and judgements of human operators.
It is generally desirable to be able to automate more and more operations that are to be performed within a laboratory. While microfluidic systems, in general, contribute substantially to this automation desire, there exits a number of other operations that can be automated in conjunction with the use of these devices. The present invention provides apparatuses systems and methods that further contribute to this automation trend.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a microfluidic device comprising a body structure configured to interface with a base instrument. The body structure includes microfluidic elements and an indicator element fabricated into the body structure. The indicator element provides an indication to an instrument of a functionality of the microfluidic device.
Another aspect of the present invention is a microfluidic system comprising a controller instrument. The controller instrument is comprised of a microfluidic device nesting region having an interface array for operably coupling one or more of a material transport system and a detector disposed within the controller instrument with a microfluidic device placed in the nesting region. The system also includes a microfluidic device having a body structure. The body structure includes an indicator element. The indicator element provides an indication to the instrument of a functionality of the microfluidic device.